Bear Ass Brown Ale -
Silverton Brewery - Silverton, Colorado

This
English-Style Mild is the lightest of the Brown Ales. It gets its
rich color and smooth flavor from crystal and chocolate malts. This
multi-award winning beer is renowned for its balance and smoothness.
With superior drinkability, this beer is the right choice when
enjoying more than one. 4.0% ABV. Bear Ass Brown has own gold medals
at the U.S. Open Beer Championship and the World Beer Championship.

Beer Review by Beer Advocate
Like many of their other beers, this has a clever name and is sold
in cans. The can shows a bear riding a donkey and drinking a beer.
My wife found this at a random store on the western slope of
Colorado.

Pours a pretty foamy light brown color with a white head. It's
probably worth noting that even though the name is "brown" - this is
a UK dark mild ale. Still, it looks amber'ish brown.
Like a good mild, there isn't a ton going on. The flavor starts off
nutty flavors and then heads into a fairly dry biscuity finish. I
pick up a lingering corn flavor that I sometimes get from Belgian
and UK beers, which I think is yeast related. Not very sweet, which
is a welcome change from a lot of US takes on English styles. Still,
at 4.2 it's still stronger than most milds. That said, it doesn't
really bother me.

Easy drinking and something you could have several of with no
issues. They're targeting this as a utilitarian everyday beer and
that makes sense to me. Still, I think when drinkers are used to
punchier amber beers like Fat Tire or 90 Shilling it might taste a
bit too mild. Pretty tasty. I like the fact that they took a stab at
a style nobody brews in the US.

Silver Brewing History
The original Silverton Brewery opened in September of 1880 under the
trade name Silverton Brewing Company. A beer garden was constructed
and the first patrons entered the doors in July of 1881. The brewery
was located at the base of Sultan Mountain, across Mineral Creek.
Cellars for lagering extended 100 feet into the rock of the
mountain. Eventually, a lake was constructed, which was fed by a
spring and supplied the brewery with crystal-clear ice. It is a
testament to the quality of their product that it was praised as the
finest in Colorado.

In 1884, Charles Fischer purchased the brewery. His beer was
described as "PURE AS THE WATERS THAT FLOW DOWN THESE MOUNTAINS". In
1901, Fischer leased the brewery to William Schultz, and in 1912,
the business was sold to Charles Faden and Associates. Thereafter,
it operated until the onset of Prohibition. Silverton went without a
brewery until the current Silverton Brewery opened for business in
June of 2005. Our five-barrel system has been producing fine beers
ever since.

We are now distributing our award winning beers to restaurants and
liquor stores across the state of Colorado; look for us in your
favorite bar or liquor store! Our tap room nestled in the beautiful
San Juan Mountains, has six beers on draft during the summer season.